A small-town bakery with big-time charm is what you will find as you enter downtown Dewitt. From the retro décor to the award-winning pies, the feeling of love and inclusion is a common theme when entering through the front door of Sweetie-licious.

“It optimizes that small town feel of being very welcoming. You get that delicious food, but you get the feeling of comfort so when you come you feel automatically welcomed,” said Melanie Phelps, a frequent customer. “You feel like you are walking back in time.

“It’s an experience rather than just a place. You walk in and it is the atmosphere of somewhere between nostalgic and cute,” said local customer Janee Penfield.

This was the vision that restaurant owner, Linda Hundt, had envisioned when she decided to make her dream a reality and open her own bakery. She had the vision of creating an environment where she could showcase her baking skills, yet spread kindness and love to anyone who walked through the front door.

“I found out my gifts were loving people and baking,” Hundt said.

“It’s about the people. It’s a big family behind the counter, some of my best friends, who are working together and giving people something they adore and love,” said Hundt. “It is a destination and an experience. Being able to create that and make that work is success fivefold.”

Linda Hunt has owned and operated Sweetie-licious bakery for 13 years. She originally started canning and preparing out of her back porch. Now 13 years later, she has grown Sweetie-licious and is constantly moving her bakery forward.

Linda Hundt holding one of her award winning pies

“I am the jack of all trades and have always been,” said Hundt. “My biggest thing that I do is to be with the customers and help with the baking. I also handle a lot of media and advertisement that is behind the kitchen doors so to speak.”

The theme of inclusion and love not only spreads through to the customers, but to the employees as well. Employee Pam Stevens, who has worked at the Sweetie-licious for seven years, can relate to the feeling of joy and love that she receives when she comes to work.

“You come in here and it’s a very happy place; the customers that come in here a really happy, and everyone is always in a good mood,” Stevens said. “It’s a happy place and we get a lot of laughs.”

Once customers have been warmly welcomed into the bakery, the real decision is deciding what type of food or what type of dessert to pick from. And that can be a hard decision, considering the bakery offers anything from grilled sandwiches to their award-winning cherry pie. However, when asked how the food and dessert at Sweetie-licious compares to other bakeries, Penfield and Phelps summed it up by simply saying “There is no comparison.”

The food is a huge reason why people from all around the state of Michigan make the trip to Sweetie-licious Pies, but it is only part of the reason. The other half is experiencing the retro feel, the charm, and the warmth that the bakery creates.

“It’s feeling the feels, smelling the smells, and feeling the love. That’s what it’s all about,” said Hundt.

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